36 PROCTOR | October 2015
In Freedom’s
Cause
with Supreme Court Librarian David Bratchford
legalheritage.sclqld.org.au
Historian Tony Cunneen uncovered
a treasure trove of material on the
experiences of Queensland’s legal
profession during the Great War
when he visited the Supreme Court
Library Queensland to research his
essay for the library’s In Freedom’s
Cause project.
The project, involving an exhibition and
accompanying book, marks the ANZAC
centenary and will pay tribute to Queensland’s
lawyers (and lawyers-in-training) who served
in World War I. It will also provide an insight
into Queensland society and the state’s legal
profession in the early 20th Century.
“There is a great deal of World War I archival
and other material online, but so much more
in hardcopy in the Supreme Court Library
Queensland, and in the Queensland State
Library, that I was able to access,” Tony said.
“It is wonderful to have the opportunity to go
through these original documents. I found the
Red Cross Society Queensland Division Red
Cross Journal for that time particularly useful.
“I am interested in personal connections,
so even small items with details such as
who recommended someone for admission
to the Bar or where someone was articled,
help build up the picture.”
Tony’s subject for the Supreme Court Library
Queensland project is ’the home front’.
“Members of the legal profession played a
leading role during the war,” he said. “There was
a general trust of the profession, even against
the background in Queensland of controversy
over appointments to the judiciary at that time.
“Despite the squabbles, there was a
commonality as far as the war was
concerned, and the general public
looked to the law for leadership.
“The then Chief Justice of Queensland,
Sir Pope Cooper, was a supporter of the war
effort and set the tone. Lawyers enlisted to
fight, and the profession, like the rest of the
community, experienced losses. There were
Queensland judges, such as Judge Charles
Jameson and Judge Thomas O’Sullivan,
whose sons were killed on the front.
Queensland lawyer and federal politician
Sir Littleton Groom, who was an active
supporter of the national war effort and the
Allied cause, had four nephews killed in action.
“Solicitors provided free advice to soldiers
and supported the Red Cross. Barristers also
supported the Red Cross and funded rooms
for its use in the Inns of Court building in
Brisbane, where many had their chambers.
This was the centre of the Red Cross in
Queensland, a hive of activity receiving and
sending consignments of goods and opening
its doors to returned service personnel, their
families and the general public.
“Queensland barristers and solicitors were
part of a national network of lawyers who
established and funded the Red Cross
Missing and Wounded Enquiry Bureau. This
bureau made a very important contribution
because the official system of notifying
people of the fate of missing or wounded
loved ones was ramshackle and overworked.
The bureau was the interface between the
home front and the battlefields.”
Tony’s research has also uncovered information
about little known members of the profession,
such as Brisbane’s Irene Winifred Anna Hunt
Paten. A graduate of Melbourne University and
“articled to Mr G.F.A . Jones, solicitor, Queen
Street”, she was admitted to the Victorian Bar
in 1914. An item in The Weekly Times in Victoria
on 5 December 2014 recorded: “Her entry into
the legal world will perhaps be remembered by
the fact that she was the first woman in Victoria
to appear alone for admittance to the Bar.
Other women who are practising as solicitors
have all had the presence of contemporaries
to help them in the ordeal.”
In 1915 she married Andrew Gordon Woodyard,
who served with the 29th Australian Infantry
Battalion. He was killed in France in August
1918. Her brother was also killed in the war,
and two of her sisters served with medical units
overseas. Irene moved permanently to Brisbane
after her husband’s death, with their daughter,
and in 1919 she was one of the founding
members of the Lyceum Club in Brisbane, which
was modeled on the London Lyceum Club.
As its website outlines, it is “A Club for Women
interested in the arts, science, contemporary
issues and the pursuit of lifelong learning”.
Said Tony: “Uncovering stories such as
Irene’s is what makes this type of research
so exciting. We’re looking at stories which
are 100 years old, and details can often
be lost through the passage of time. It’s an
honour to be able to record these stories and
there are many more out there to uncover.”
Tony would like to hear from anyone who would
like to contribute to the home front project.
Contact him at acunneen@bigpond.net.au.
Help us to honour Queensland’s
lawyers who fought in WW1
Supreme Court Library Queensland is seeking
your generous financial support to help it
present a series of initiatives highlighting the
contribution made by Queensland’s lawyers
and lawyers-in-training during the Great War.
Visit legalheritage.sclqld.org.au for details
about how to help the Supreme Court
Library Queensland realise this major
commemorative project.
For corporate sponsorship and other enquiries
about In Freedom’s Cause, please contact
the library’s heritage and education programs
manager, Alice-Anne Boylan, on 07 3247 5434
or alice-anne.boylan@sclqld.org.au.
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